Moz Local now provides data from Google My Business

Despite the non-locality of e-commerce, it’s all about local customers for many businesses.

To give them more perspectives, SEO firm Moz is today announcing the integration of Google My Business Insights data with the Professional and Local Premium versions of its Moz Local search.

Moz Local manages local business listings for sites, apps and directories that feed local search engine results. The company says it has over 14,000 customers for Moz Local — including Crate & Barrel, Sears, Reebok and Geico — and manages more than 85,000 business locations across the US, Canada and the UK.

Early last month, Google announced it would offer business location insights in its Google My Business (GMB) API. The idea, the search giant said in a blog post, was:

“… to make it easier for third-party application developers and large multi-locations brands to programmatically access location insights such as total number of searches, views and actions that let business owners track and analyze where and how people are finding them on Google.”

With the GMB data, Moz said that businesses can see how customers are searching for that business on Google, what actions they’re taking once they get a result, and how that affects conversion rates for campaigns.

Specifically, Moz Local says it can now offer:

• Google Searches — The number of times your business listing was shown when searching for it directly (by name)
• Google Categorical Searches — The number of times the listing was shown as a result of a categorical search (for example, restaurant)
• Google Map Views — The number of times your listing was viewed on Google Maps
• Google Search Views — The number of times your listing was viewed on Google Search (in organic or local pack SERPs)
• Google Customer Actions, which include:
  • Click-to-Website — The number of times the website was clicked or tapped on your listing
  • Click-to-Call — The number of times the phone number was clicked or tapped on your listing
  • Click-to-Driving Directions — The number of times driving directions were requested for the listing

Competitors in the local search market include MomentFeed, Yext and BrightLocal, but Moz says its differentiators include an annual Search Rankings factors report to help optimization, and active management to ensure transparency and consistency and to avoid duplication.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Barry Levine

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.